OUR  ATTORNEYS

• Successfully reorganized or liquidated numerous businesses in the health care, energy, construction, real estate, agricultural, hospitality, marine, manufacturing and retail industries.
• Litigates undue influence and lack of capacity in will and donation cases, and was lead trial and appellate counsel in a seminal reported case on undue influence, Succession of Cook, 189 So.3d 409 (La. App. 2 Cir. 2016); writ den. 192 So.3d 768.
• Successfully prosecuted multiple involuntary Chapter 11 and 7 bankruptcies, as well as a Chapter 15 cross border insolvency case involving an Australian corporation.
• Lead counsel for a multi-national European utility company in coordination with English solicitors and German counsel in litigation and eventual settlement of an extremely large commodities contract with an American counterparty in Chapter 11 that was governed by German law.
• Represented the board of trustees of a local college successfully in litigation surrounding the election of the college president.
• Represented an aviation business in litigation in the District of Columbia with a large oil and gas business regarding oil rights in the Central African Republic, with the matter being dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.
• Represented the boards of trustees of local churches in the removal of the pastor by congregational election and also in litigation with a pastor via writ of quo warranto and injunction.
• Represented a powerline contractor from start-up to doing business in seven states in a period of three years, including finance, contracts, and corporate work.
• Successfully represented construction contractors in Miller Act litigation regarding a federal prison and a local military installation.
• Successfully represented a cattle business in a lawsuit in federal court in Texas against a feed yard for mishandling of cattle and hedge accounts.
• Successfully represented a minority shareholder in derivative litigation in federal court in Texas with a supply company for the natural gas industry.
• Successfully represented a non-profit corporation in seeking federal court approval in a desegregation case for the opening of a charter school.
• Obtained release of an attorney imprisoned for contempt by emergency writ to the U.S. Court of Appeal within a day of the remand to federal custody, and obtained a reversal of the remand after full briefing.
• Litigated complex issues in bankruptcy court regarding the automatic stay and the validity of underlying state court litigation regarding non-debtor parties, and obtained affirmances from the district court and the court of appeals, with certiorari being denied by the Supreme Court of the United States.
• Counsel in a Chapter 11 case which liquidated oil and gas assets in Louisiana and Texas with multiple section 363 motions and a liquidating plan, including resolution of complex Louisiana Oil Well Lien Act claims.
• Serves as counsel to secured lenders in large commercial foreclosures involving shopping centers and hotels, including initiating and prosecuting federal receivership proceedings to liquidate numerous shopping centers in multiple states in a single lawsuit.  
• Local counsel for a nationally known securities dealer in resolving mutimillion dollar securities fraud litigation with a liquidating trustee under a confirmed Chapter 11 plan who received assignment of claims from certain bondholders regarding a failed energy project.
• Handles federal criminal litigation for defendants charged with bankruptcy fraud, including obtaining a downward departure to probation over the objection of the Federal Probation Office for a client.
• Handles federal criminal litigation regarding restitution collection actions against non-defendant spouses, and has successfully quashed garnishments against separate property.
• Has successfully represented the winning bidder for mutiple federal ambulance contracts in bid protest litigation in the United States Court of Federal Claims.
• Represented plaintiffs in a mass tort Chapter 11 case and prevented the debtors from relitigating issues in bankruptcy court tried to judgment and currently on appeal in state court, with the resulting plan requiring payment of the claims in full over time.

• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell
• 2019 Mid-Size Company Turnaround of the Year Award - Turnaround Management Association
• 2019 Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year ($10mm to $25mm) - M&A Advisor
• 2019 Energy Restructuring of Year, Mid-Market - Turnaround Atlas Awards
• Listed in Best Lawyers since 2010
• Listed in Super Lawyers since 2012

• Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization
  • Board Certified Business Bankruptcy Specialist
  • Bankruptcy Law Advisory Commission Member (2010 - 2016)
  • Vice Chair (Spring 2013), Chair (2013 - 2014)
• American Board of Certification
  • Board Certified Business Bankruptcy Law
• American Bankruptcy Institute
  • 40-Hour Mediation Training, St. John’s University School of Law, Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution, New York City, December, 2016, emphasis on bankruptcy, commercial and multi-party mediation
• United States Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Louisiana
  • Chairman, Local Rules Committee (2018)
• Louisiana State Bar Association
  • Observer to the Louisiana State Law Institute (2003), Young Lawyers
  • Sixth District Board Representative, Young Lawyer's Section Council (2005 - 2006)
  • House of Delegates (2015 - 2017)
  • Member, Sections on Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Bankruptcy Law, Civil Law & Litigation, Corporate & Business Law, Labor & Employment Law
• Louisiana Bar Foundation
  • Fellow (2011 - present)
  • Editorial Committee (2011 - 2012)
• Judge, 2018 Elliott Cup Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition sponsored by the Bankruptcy Law Section of the State Bar of Texas
• Alexandria Bar Association
  • President (2015 - 2016)
  • Executive Council (2012 - present)
• Crossroads-American Inn of Court of Alexandria-Pineville
  • Master of the Bench
  • Program Chair (2010 - 2011)
  • President (2011 - 2012)
• Central Louisiana Pro Bono Project, Past Director
• Kiwanis Club of Central Louisiana
  • Member & Past Director
  • Received Distinguished Past President Award for service
• Sewanee: The University of the South
  • Board of Trustees (2021 - 2023)
• The Episcopal Church
  • Past vestry member, St. James Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Louisiana
  • Lay Worship Leader and Lay Eucharistic Minister
  • Judge, Ecclesiastical Court of Review for Province VII (2005 - 2008)
  • Lay Deputy, General Convention, 2006
  • Standing Committee for the Diocese of Western Louisiana (2006 - 2009)
  • Chair of the Committee on Constitution and Canons for the Diocese of Western Louisiana (2011 - 2016)
• Kairos Prison Ministry International, Inc.
  • Past Chair of the Louisiana Chapter (2006 - 2007)
  • Member of Board of Directors (2008 - 2009)
  • Member, Ad Hoc Committee On Structure (2008 - 2009)
  • Recipient, Building the Kingdom Award, August 1, 2009

• Bankruptcy for General Practitioners, F.A. "Pappy" Little Jr Inn Of Court (, CLE Presentation with Heather M. Mathews and Conner L. Dillon), 10/18/25
• Appeals to the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit with Notes on Bankruptcy and Writ Practice, F.A. "Pappy" Little Jr Inn Of Court (CLE Presentation with Heather M. Mathews), 10/19/23
• Suing the Federal Government – FCA/Qui Tam, Federal Tort Claims Act, and the Tucker Act (Presented with Jennifer Fredrick, AUSA, Western District of Louisiana), Crossroads American Inn of Court, 2/23/2020
• Criminal Law Problems in Civil Litigation and Bankruptcy, Crossroads American Inn of Court, 3/15/11
• Effective Opening Statements and Closing Arguments, Crossroads American Inn of Court, 10/20/2009
• Ethics Presentation: Wait, Wait, Don't Discipline Me, Crossroads American Inn of Court, 2/19/08
• Professionalism Presentation: Listening - An Important Legal Skill, Crossroads American Inn of Court, 2/21/06
• Judgment Day: A Lawyer's Soul On Trial (Materials Update and Presentation), Crossroads American Inn of Court, 1/28/2003
• Bankruptcy Law For the General Practitioner, Crossroads American Inn of Court, 10/21/97

Louisiana State Bar Association

• Subchapter V of Chapter 11 – From First Day Motions to Plan Confirmation, Louisiana State Bar Association, Bankruptcy Law 2022 Key Issues Lawyers Need to Know! (CLE Presentation with Albert J. Derbes, IV and Greta M. Brouphy), 4/20/22
• Getting Your Fees Paid in Whatever The Chapter As Debtor’s Counsel (Ethics Presentation), LSBA Annual Bankruptcy Seminar, 12/17/2015
• So This Is What Bankruptcy Is All About, LSBA Annual Bankruptcy Seminar, 12/7/12
• Did You Hear About Stern v Marshall? So, Can I Still Remove This Case to Bankruptcy Court and Try It?, LSBA Annual Bankruptcy Seminar, 12/7/12
• Commercial and Bankruptcy Law Update, Cenla's Last Round-Up CLE Seminar, 12/03/03

Alexandria Bar Association

• That’s How You Know You Messed Up and What To Do About It, Ethics Presentation, Alexandria Bar Association Three for Free Seminar, 9/25/15
• Pitfalls of Bankruptcy for New Attorneys, Alexandria Bar Association Opening of Court Continuing Legal Education Seminar, 9/10/09

LSU Law Center

• What's It Worth?  Evaluating Valuation, (CLE Presentation with Hon. Michael Crawford, Hon. Selene Maddox, Vanessa Claiborne, and David Waguespack), LSU Law 30th Annual Bankruptcy Law Conference, LSU Law Center, 10/11/24
• Dismissals, Conversions & Trustees: What's ‘Cause’ Got To Do With It?, (CLE Presentation with Hon. Meredith Grabill, Amanda George, Mark Mintz), LSU Law 29th Annual Bankruptcy Law Conference, LSU Law Center, 11/3/23
• Hot Topics in Chapter 11: Confidentiality & Privileges, Third-Party Injunctions and Releases, and UST Fee Litigation,(CLE Presentation with Hon. John Kolwe and Cherie Nobles),  LSU Law 28th Annual Bankruptcy Law Conference, LSU Law Center, 11/9/22
• Evidence – A Discussion on How to Gather, Present and Use Evidence in Making Your Case in Bankruptcy Court, (CLE Presentation with Hon. Meredith S. Grabill, Albert Derbes IV, R. Patrick Vance, Sr.), LSU Law 27th Annual Bankruptcy Law Conference, LSU Law Center, 12/2/21
• Merchant Cash Advances: Law and Bankruptcy Strategies to Deal With “Pay Day” Loans for Business, (CLE Presentation with Heather M. Mathews), LSU Law 26th Annual Bankruptcy Law Conference, LSU Law Center, 10/30/20
• How to Take an Appeal from a Bankruptcy Court’s Order and In Case of Emergency, Break Glass: Writ Practice (Presented with U.S. Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod and U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays), 25th Annual Bankruptcy Law Seminar, LSU Cook Conference Center, 10/18/19
• Ethics (A Family Affair) – Ethical Issues in Bankruptcy Cases and Proceedings, Including Valuation Issues (Presented with U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell and Katherine Drell Grissel, Esq.), 24th Annual Bankruptcy Law Seminar, LSU Law Center, 11/8/18
• Professionalism Redux: Toward A New Paradigm With Practical Suggestions on Oral Communications and Listening, 18th Annual Bankruptcy Seminar, LSU Law Center, 10/11/12
• Consumer Attorney Fee Issues, National and Local Trends, 20th Annual Bankruptcy Seminar, LSU Law Center, 10/23/14
• Small Business Bankruptcy - A Road Map, & Individual Chapter 11 - This Stuff Is Hard, 16th Annual Bankruptcy Seminar, LSU Law Center, 10/7/10
• Professionalism: Toward A New Paradigm With One Practical Suggestion, 15th Annual Bankruptcy Seminar, LSU Law Center, 10/16/09

Louisiana Bankers Association

• What Every Secured Creditor Should Know About Bankruptcy and Its Alternatives, Louisiana Bankers Association Bank Counsel Conference, (CLE Presentation with Hon. John S. Hodge and R. Joseph "Chip" Naus), 12/13/24

Louisiana College

• Adjunct Lecturer in Business Law (2006 - 2016)
• Honorary Member, Delta Mu Delta Honor Society in Business Administration

Louisiana Judicial College

• Ego, Ethics and the Contempt Power (Presented with U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell), Fall Judges Conference, 10/2/16 - 10/4/16

Louisiana District Attorneys Association

• Bankruptcy and Child Support, LSEA Conference, 5/13/16

Lafayette Federal Bar Association

• Bankruptcy and Mudbugs: How Bankruptcy Impacts the Civil Litigator, Business Law/Transactional Attorney, and Real Estate Attorney, Lafayette Federal Bar Association, (CLE Presentation with Louis M. Phillips), 4/28/22

American Bankrupcty Insitute

• Siegel v. Fitzgerald: The Prologue and Aftermath, American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, ( Publication with Heather M. Mathews, Co-Author), 8/22 

abiLIVE Webinar

• Webinar Discussion of the Siegel v. Fitzgerald case, abiLIVE Webinar (with Hon. Melanie L. Cyganowski (ret.), Prof. Stephen J. Lubben, Clifford J. White, III), 8/22

The Center for American and International Law

• No Money Down Chapter 13 Plans – A Benefit or Detriment to Debtors? (Presented with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John W. Kolwe, Professor Pamela Foohey, and Dr. Deborah Thorne), Fifth Circuit Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, New Orleans, LA, February 6, 2020
   

• Walker, Passman & Michiels